On the Road, Again!
by AbCarter
Summary: After accidentally triggering the omni, Jeffrey and Kate are now stuck in history. Unable to get either of them home. A red light blinking at them. [sequel to Home and Away]
1. Previously

Previously

Bogg and Jeffrey were separated on a voyage. Jeffrey got stuck in the 18th century without the omni, and was enslaved on a coffee plantation. Five years have passed for him before Bogg finally rescues him. For Bogg, however, 21 years have passed, time he spent looking for Jeffrey. Bogg's daugther Kate shows Jeffrey how hard her dad has tried to find him. By accident the two of them voyage to 1963. Kate tampers with the time boundary of the omni so they can go to the 1980s. In 1989 they meet Jeffrey's parents, alive and well. Kate assures Jeffrey this is one red light they do not need to set straight. Jeffrey decides to stay with his parents. When he and Kate say good bye, the omni is triggered.

-------

Sullivan County, 16 August 1969

This can't be happening. This is not real. He must be dreaming. He did not just voyage. He's still lying on the couch in his folks' apartment, asleep, dreaming. He should pinch himself to verify, or better yet, pinch Kate. Jeffrey gets up, grabs some of the skin of her arm between thum and fore finger and gives it a good twist.

"Aow." Kate pulls her arm back and rubs the sore spot. "What did you do that for?"

"What do you think?"

"No reason to resort to physical violence. That never solves anything."

"If you don't take me back real fast I might resort to strangling, you."

"I can't take you back." Kate jumps a few feet back when she sees the look in Jeffrey's eyes. "It's a red light here. That means that the future from this point is alternate to the future we came from. Don't ask me about the specifics. That's relativity theory and I only understand very little of that. Just that 1989 from here may be different from the 1989 we just left. Did your dad happen to mention anything about Woodstock?"

"It didn't come up." Jeffrey turns on his heels. "It's only fair," he says.

"Fair?" Kate looks puzzled.

"I took you away from your dad, now you took me away from mine."

"We're even?!" Kate tries to figure out whether Jeffrey is being serious or sarcastic.

"Not quite. You also took me away from my mom."

"Yeah, it would prove difficult to get even on that one." Kate pulls her ear. "Look, Jeff, I'm really sorry, very sorry. I didn't mean to trigger the omni like that. I wish I could make up and take you back, but I don't think it'll work."

Jeffrey takes a deep breath. "There's no saying that if we fix the red light here we will be able to get to the 1989 we left. And we don't know whether we will be able to get back to that 1989 from here at all, even if we left right now."

"That pretty much sums it up." Kate is surprised Jeffrey understands this part so quickly.

Jeffrey runs his hands through his hair. Kate sticks her hands in her pockets and just stands around biting her lip. She waits for Jeffrey to make a decision either way. She knows that there is a chance they can get back in the same 1989, but it's a slim chance. About as slim as getting there in the first place.

"All right." Jeffrey stops pulling at his own hair. "Let's first try to get back."

"Okay. Not making any promises." Kate takes the omni and sets the data and location. Jeffrey puts his hand on her shoulder and she presses the button. Nothing happens. "I think we're meant to stay here."

"Try again."

"I've tried again. I've set the date and location, I pressed the button, and all that happened was that the dials reset themselves for this date."

Jeffrey utters a few phrazes he learned on the plantation.

"I do hope you learned some more Mandarin Chinees than just the swear words."

He looks at her in surprise.

"I speak 8 languages fluently and have a working knowledge of 15 others."

"That is quite impressive. Really."

Kate shrugs. "There's nothing else to do on the Island than to learn a lot of foreign languages I'm probably never going to use. But what are we gonna do now the omni doesn't want us to leave here?"

Jeffrey rubs his hands over his face, then throws his arms in the air. "Let's find out why there is a red light here." He starts walking. Kate nods and follows him in silence.


	2. Hawaii Beach

A/N: Kate and Jeffrey have fixed the red light they encountered on 16 August 1969 which took them to Miami. I've written a story about that, but that's just weird. This story picks up a few hours later, when they are relaxing after their success at giving history a push.

---------------------------------------------------

Hawaii Beach, 8 June 1972.

Kate is playing in the floodline, running in and out of the water. Jeffrey sits on the beach, staring into the distance. Two minutes he had Bogg back in his life and he is off voyaging again. Okay, partly his own doing. And partly Kate's. She took him away from his folks. He shouldn't hold that against her though, not too much. It was an accident, and she did take him to them in the first place. Jeffrey pulls his legs up and rests his chin on his knees. Maybe when they get back to the Island someone there can take him back to his folks. So what if he is supposed to be the greatest Voyager ever. He wasn't supposed to be enslaved on a plantation for five years, was he? They can't make him become a voyager if he doesn't want to. And if they think they can, he will take his omni and try to find his folks, now that he knows they're out there somewhere. If they give him an omni with a time boundary set at 1982, he will ask Kate to rig it for him. Surely she will do that. He'll play on her guilt if he has to. Does she even feel guilt? She says she feels bad, but it would be a lot more convincing if she wasn't so damn cheerful.

Heay, you can't do that, he tells himself. It's not Kate's fault they're here now. He was the one that first triggered the omni. They should just make the most of the situation. He should do the mature thing. He's the experienced Voyager here. Kate has never voyaged before, save one illegitimate trip, and eventhough she knows about voyaging, actual voyaging has got the be pretty scary to her. He should take her under his wing, show her the ropes, take care of her the way Bogg took care of him.

Bogg. Bogg kept looking for him for twentyone years. He never gave up. Never forgot him. And how does he say thanks? He kidnaps his daughter. Bogg has got to be pretty devastated. Kate too. From what she's told him, he gathers that she and Bogg are close. Maybe it's like he said, they're even. He took her away from her dad, she took him away from his folks. And now they'll have to voyage until someone on the Island likes them back. He would have thought Bogg would have wanted them back immediately, but perhaps he doesn't have a big influence on the Island. Or he's paralized with devastation, or ...

There you go again with the horror scenarios, Jeffrey tells himself, stop that. He tries to think happy thoughts. At least he has got the color back in a lot of his childhood memories.

---------

"I thought I might find you here." Susan closes the door behind her and walks over to Bogg who sits in front of the Omnitron.

"You said a couple of hours. It's a couple of days now."

"I'm sorry. I thought ..."

"So did I. I don't blame you. It's just ..."

"I know." She puts a hand on his shoulder.

"If I knew how to work the Omnitron I would get them home myself."

"Is there anything I can get you? A more comfortable chair for instance?"

"I'm good. Your company would be nice."

"Your muscles are really tense." Susan starts to masage his neck and shoulders. "You know, your muscles are strong enough to break your own bones. We don't want you to break your shoulder on top of everything."

"What an odd thing to say."

"I think Kate told me once. You remember, she had found those medical books in the library. How old was she then, six or seven?"

"Six."

"Six. She'd tell everyone about the new things she learned. Did you know your own muscles are strong enough to break your own bones? Did you know there are 27 bones in the human hand?" Susan tries to imitate the six-year-old know-it-all.

"I was just glad the books were in alfabetical order, so I could put them on a higher shelf before she reached the R's and S's."

"I believe you also suggested we'd re-organize the library so that certain books would be out of reach for people of certain height."

"If you had re-organized the library, we would have found Jeffrey a lot sooner."

As if suddenly stung Susan pulls her hands away from Bogg. "Perhaps." It makes her sick to think that Voyagers had the information to Jeffrey's whereabouts all along in their library, but didn't know about it, because there was a backload of four decades worth of cataloging. Susan feels very responsible. So much so that a little part of her is almost glad Jeffrey isn't on the Island so she doesn't have to face him. She is head of Administration and Legal. The library is her responsibility. She feels she has utterly failed the young man. Susan changes the subject. "Where are they? I don't see Jeffrey."

"Hawaii Beach. Jeff is sitting overthere somewhere, staring into the distance. I can only imagine what he is thinking about. Kate's playing in the water. It's silly, isn't it?" He looks up at Susan.

"What is?"

"I used to be a pirate and my 18-year-old daughter has never seen the ocean."

"Yes, that is silly."

"Too bad there isn't any sound."

Susan walks over to the console. "There isn't anything on mute here. I guess the omni isn't transmitting sound." She turns back to Bogg. "Anything else I can do for you?"

"You could take over my class."

"I tried to, but your students refused to be thaught." She doesn't mention one of them suggested that Kate and Jeffrey hadn't returned yet because there is something wrong with the omni they took. She plans to look into that later.

Bogg takes her hand and presses a kiss on it. "Thank you for being here for me."

"I'm always here for you, Phineas."

----------

Kate stops playing and looks at Jeffrey staring into the distance. Her heart aches seeing him like that. Why doesn't the omni want to take them back to 1989 anymore? Did it reset its time boundary? Can't be. They're in 1972 right now. And why isn't the Council getting them back? They must have been gone for at least 50 hours now. How long does it take to press the right button on the Omnitron? The Council should know the home button on their omni doesn't work, so what's taking them? No need to tell Jeffrey about this. It would only add to his agony. Time for a cheerful face and sunny attitude, even if the natural state of the situation sets for a bad mood.

Kate flops down beside Jeffrey and stretches out on the beach.

"You really like the ocean," Jeffrey tells her.

"It's marvelous. Voyager Island is great, don't get me wrong. Always excellent weather. I am told I don't really know what bad weather is like. But whoever designed it forgot to put in an ocean."

"Is that why we haven't voyaged yet, although it's a green light here, and earlier you said we should voyage as much as possible so they could get us home." Jeffrey lies down on his side.

"I think it is part of it. The other part is I'm still on this thrill from my first green light."

"I would think that would encourage you to go to another red light time, fix things there."

"No, I want to wait doing that, until this thrill wears off. I was mistaken though, this was not my first green light."

"You're not counting stopping me trying to stop Oswald, are you?"

"I hadn't thought about that one, so, no. No, this was when I was sixteen. Dad took me to see the opera The Pirate."

"He inspired Bellini and Romani to make one of the characters a pirate." His memories take him back to 1827 where he and Bogg had to get Romani and Bellini to work together.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I wanted to see it. So, for my sixteenth birthday, dad took me there. A very special performance he said. Actually, the first time it was going to be performed. When we got there, there was a red light. The opera wasn't programmed with the lead that was supposed to, Rubini. So we went back in time to find him and get him out of the predicament he was in. Something about romancing someone else's wife, which badly influenced his singing career." Jeffrey chuckles. "That kind of was my first green light. But this one in Miami felt more like it was mine. There it was dad who took the lead, and did everything. I just looked at him admiringly."

"And here you just followed my lead." Jeffrey rolls on his back.

"Yeah, right."

"I was the one who told the man from Train that Lang was a manager."

"And I was the one who asked him to take us to Michael Lang's shop."

"So, it was a joint effort then."

"Yeah, a joint effort. We make a good team."

"How about we try to be a good team somewhere else?"

"Are you bored?"

"Well, kind of."

"I thought after all those years of working hard on the plantation, you could use a short vacation, not do anything."

"I would have thought so too. I guess I'm just one of those people that always needs to be busy."

"Lying in the sand is an activity."

"Too passive."

Kate rolls over and leans on her elbows. "Where would you take your active holiday?"

"I'd like to go to the Wild West."

"The Wild West? Oh yeah, when men were real men and women were real women, and getting shot was just one smart ass remark away."

"I see why you would have a problem there. That's where the real America was made."

"Sure. So that's what some French writers mean by America's cowboy mentality. It is really appreciated by the rest of the world."

"What are you talking about?" Jeffrey gets up on one elbow to look at her straight.

"A lot of things that happened after 1982. You're excused for not knowing."

"What kind of things happened after 1982?"

"Er, the Berlin wall fell in '89. War on the Balkan, again. The whole 21st century, but I'm not really familiar with that. I specialized in the period from 1750 to 1950."

"I didn't know Voyagers specialized in times."

"Hmm. We're under new management. Things change. It's a choice you can make: know a little about a lot, or know a lot about a little. I did a bit of both, I know a lot about the period between 1750 and 1950, and a little about all the rest."

"Why did you choose those times?"

"They're very interesting times; the world changes a lot there. Well, it does in all centuries after the Industrial Revolution. I had to draw a line somewhere, and I kinda lost interest at the end of the 20th century, so I drew my line there. It's a great time period. I'll show you." Kate sits up. She rubs the sand from her feet and puts on her sneakers. "Best if we stand up for voyaging. We never quite know where we end up. We might have to jump out of the way of something." They get up. Kate opens the omni and sets the dials. Jeffrey puts a hand on her arm.

"The period of 1750 to 1950 is great because of the advancements in technology and ... "

------

" ... and engineering. Such as the Eiffeltower." Kate spreads her arms. "Isn't Paris great from up here?" Kate and Jeffrey are standing on a half finished Eiffeltower. "Or how about the social advancements?" Kate resets the dials.

------

"Such as women's suggrage?" They appear at a demonstration for women's suffrage. "Or how both brought about a new kind of entertainment." They voyage again.


	3. Wheel of Motion

Chicago, 1893.

"Holiday is over, we've got a red light."

"What is it?" Jeffrey asks.

"How should I know? I just got here."

"What did you want to show me?"

"First Ferris wheel. We're at the right time and place, Chicago, 17 June 1893. Big sign saying 'Columbian Exposition'. I don't think the omni could have gotten us here anymore accurately."

"Maybe it's obscured by a building?"

"The wheel alone was 250 feet high, so we should be able to see it, you know, sticking out above something."

"I don't see it." Jeffrey looks around and shakes his head.

"Nope."

"That'll be our assignment, to get the first Ferris wheel built."

"Hmm. And do you know who built the first Ferris wheel?"

"That would be mr. Ferris. George Ferris." Jeffrey stands up straight as if he's giving a lecture.

"You happen to know where we can find him?"

"Er, no, 'fraid not."

"Good thing you've got me. George Ferris, Pittsburgh, Fall of 1892." Kate sets the omni.

-------

Pittsburgh, September 1892.

"Hawaii in the Summer is a lot nicer than Pittsburgh in Autumn." Kate shivers. "And it's windy here. Was Pittsburgh the Windy City."

"That's Chicago. Now, how do we find mr. Ferris?"

Kate bends to read a newspaper held by a man waiting for a tram. "Look that's interesting. Here a segment on the Columbian Exposition. Architect Daniel Burnham, who designed the thing, says they haven't come up with anything yet that can answer to the expectations of the audience." The man puts the paper down and frowns at Kate. She throws him a winning smile. He shakes his head and puts the paper back up. Kate turns to Jeffrey. "I think this should be the que for our friend to appear. Our yet unknown friend."

"George Ferris, will you ever ... " a little woman shouts after a man.

"I think we just got a bit of luck again." Jeffrey smiles to Kate.

"How dare you leave the house dressed like that." The woman has caught up with the man and is unbuttoning his coat. "Your shirt just randomly buttoned, your tie in a knot that boy scouts use to tie tree logs together." The woman straightens the man out. He doesn't argue with her. "There, that's better. Now you can present yourself again."

"Yes, dear."

"And I'll see you back home tonight. Do not forget we have company tonight, so don't be late."

"Of course, dear. I will, dear." The man bows his head in greeting to his wife, then runs away to catch the tram. Kate and Jeffrey run after him and just manage to jump onto the tram as it pulls away from its stop. They stand on the balcony next to George Ferris.

"I read in the paper that the exposition in Chicago next year still needs somethings that can answer to what the audience expects," Kate starts. "But it didn't say what kind of thing that would be. What kind of thing would the public expect from an exhibition like that?"

"Big things," Jeffrey replies. "Big buildings, like the Christal Palace. Big machines, like trains."

"I heard that in Paris they had this machine in which you could take a fake train ride. You sat in some kind of train carriage. In stead of the carriage moving, the scenery, that was painted on large canvas roles, was pulled past the windows. It was just as if you were making a real train journey. That may be something for the Chicago exposition."

"Well, they probably want something that is also unique. London had the Christal Palace, Paris the Eiffeltower, Chicago should have ... "

"Another big construction?"

"And something that is moving," Ferris joins in the conversation. "They should want something that is big and moving."

"Like those fake trains I was talking about?"

"No, that's too little movement. It should be big, and move up. Like those wheels they have in Atlantic City."

"Sure, but those aren't very big," Kate replies. "I believe one of them burned down in June; it was made out of wood. I think it was only 30 feet high. The Eiffeltower, now that is big, it must be a 1000 feet high."

"But that is made out of steel. Steel is a much better construction material than wood. The same length of a beam of steel can take on much more force than a beam of wood. No, if you're going to build a big wheel you must use steel."

"You talk as someone who is in the steel business."

"Well, I am. George Ferris. Testing of steel and iron."

"Kate Bogg." They give eachother a friendly nod. "With a name like yours it's no wonder you are in the steel business. Ferris or ferro, that's latin for iron."

"And what kind of business would you be in with a name like Bogg, non too boggy, I hope."

"I haven't really chosen a business yet. I was thinking of becoming a teacher."

"You will never a good position dressed like that." Ferris points at Kate's purple knot-dyed shirt. "Well, my wife would say. She thinks it's very important that the proper clothing should be worn, the proper way."

"Yes, we saw her rebutton you. But we are getting away from the conversation we were having. If you made a wheel out of steel, how big could you make it?"

"Much bigger than 30 feet. 100, 200 feet at least. And you want to put in big cars, not like those in Atlantic City with only four or five people per car. Dozens of people per car." Ferris is on a role now. "Come with me." He jumps off the still moving tram. Kate and Jeffrey follow him.

"The Eiffeltower is construction wise not very interesting." Ferris continues to talk as he takes on a brisk pace. "Basically it's a 1000 feet long bridge standing on one of its ends. What would be interesting, is to take a 1000 feet long bridge and make it round, like a bicycle wheel."

They go into a restaurant where Ferris flops down at the first table he sees. He takes a note book out of his pocket and starts sketching.

"I would make the wheel 250 feet high, and 20 feet wide. That's at least twice as wide as any of the wheels in Atlantic City."

"If you make it 30 feet wide you could fit in cars that would fit maybe fourty people." Kate who sat down next to him points out. "That's more than go into the Atlantic City wheels for all their cars at the same time."

"Right, right. 30 feet. And not forty people, let's make it sixty." Ferris adds some measurements to his sketch. "If the wheel is 250 feet big then I want two towers, one on either side, like so, which support the middle axis. Those should be 150 feet. You could use the same construction principle as used for the Eiffeltower. Two little bridges standing on one end." Ferris chuckles at the little joke he has made, then quickly returns to his sketch. "To drive the wheel, I put a steam engine here."

A waiter arrives to take their orders. Ferris and Kate are too busy to notice. Jeffrey suggests he should come back later. He leans back in his chair watching Kate and Ferris design the big wheel. They discuss the size of the beams needed for the wheel; those needed for the towers; the design of the cars; the number of bearings needed to keep the cars in upright position; how big the load of the cars will be. Occassionally they briefly pause when a page on the notebook needs to be turned, but most times they keep talking so no time gets lost discussing their big plan. Jeffrey feels an outsider to this conversation. The six-year-old boy that has to be quiet while the grown ups are talking. At the same time he is amused how the mutual enthusiasm of Ferris and Kate fires them both up even more. Then Ferris closes his note book.

"I think we just about discussed everything there is to discuss about it." He taps the book on the table. "I'm going to write this up as a proposal for the exhibition people in Chicago. They wanted to give the public something it expects. We're going to give them something the public hadn't expected in their wildest dreams." Ferris pockets the note book. "How is it that you know so much about engineering and construction?" he asks Kate.

"I've always had an interest in engineering. It's easy to pick up things if you have an interest in them."

"So your father must be an engineer. Does he work here in Pittsburgh? I don't think I have heard of an engineer named Bogg around here."

"I don't think he does much work in these parts."

"Oh, look at the time. I was already running late for work before I met you. It's a good thing I'm the boss, I won't fire me." Ferris jumps up. "It was very nice meeting you both." He shakes both their hands and then rushes out of the restaurant.

"An interesting character," Jeffrey says. It's about the first thing he has said in an hour's time.

"Why would my father have to be an engineer for me to have an interest in engineering?" Kate looks upset.

"I think it's the time we're in; engineering isn't part of a woman's field of expertize."

"It is still presumptuous."

"I guess so. I used to get it all the time: I tried to warn people about things, but they wouldn't listen, just because I was a kid."

"Yeah, I know. But I just had this really intens and stimulating conversation with George, he really appreciated my input, treated me like an equal. And then he ends it with something like that. I feel a little disappointed in him, that's all."

"Let's just check if we have a green light. That'll cheer you up."

Kate opens the omni. "Green light. You're right, that does make me feel better. So now we go back to Chicago to take a ride in that Ferris wheel. We deserve that, after all we helped design it."

"You helped design it," Jeffrey says as he gets up. "I just sat here looking admiringly at you." Kate smiles. He puts an arm around her shoulder and she sets the dials of the omni.

----------

A/N: Kate is mistaken: the fake train rides were a feature of the 1900 Paris' World Exhibition, so she shouldn't have mentioned them in 1892.


	4. Plunge West

"This is nowhere near where I wanted to go," Kate says. "Weather is nice, though."

"So, when and where are we?" Jeffrey is really appreciating the new chip in the omni. They arrived on a promenade along the sea, whereas in the old days the omni would have dropped them in the sea, for sure.

"Portugal, Lisbon." Kate studies the omni. "April 1485, red light."

"I can't think of anything that should have happened in Portugal around this time."

"We're by the seaside. The fresh seabreeze might blow the cob webs out of our heads." Kate puts her arm through his. "C'mon, let's stroll along the water. Whatever is wrong will jump at us sooner or later."

"That's the way it always is." Jeffrey puts his face in the wind. "It's beautiful here, isn't it? The ocean overthere. Just think, in a few years time Christopher Columbus will set sail, cross that ocean and discover America."

"Are you talking about me?" the man they pass at that moment asks them in broken Portugees.

"That depends," Kate replies in equally bad Portugees. "Who are you?"

"Christopher Columbus from Genoa, merchant sailor," the man replies and makes a flamboyant bow.

"Talk of the devil." Kate nudges Jeffrey. "This is the man himself."

"It is my honor to meet you," Jeffrey says to Columbus in Italian. "I am Jeffrey Jones, and this is Kate."

"It gives me pleasure you address me in Italian. My Protugees isn't very good."

"Neither is mine." Jeffrey chuckles.

"Now, what was it you were saying about me?"

"I was just telling Kate here about your plan to sail West and find a passage to India. An excellent plan. I am sure you will be successful."

"An excellent plan, that it is, but alas, no one wants to finance it." Columbus shakes his head. "For many years the Portugees have profitted of my many skills as a sailor. And now? Now I come with a daring plan. Too daring in the eyes of the Court. My estimates of the distance to India are supposedly incorrect. They think the ships cannot carry enough food and water to reach India. I don't see how I can convince them to give me money to equip my ships. If they are not willing to support me, then how can I ever execute my plan? There is a way West to India, I know it."

"Why don't you ask someone else to finance your plan?" Kate asks.

"Who can I ask?" Columbus throws his hands in the air in frustration. "Who can I ask? There is no one else. No one has the capital to equip a small fleet. Only the king can help me, without him I am lost. You are a woman, you don't understand this sort of thing."

Kate rolls her eyes. "I am _so_ tired of this." She gives Columbus a push. "I understand this sort of thing fine! This has everything to do with common sense, of which women generally possess a lot more than men." She gives Columbus another push. He stumbles and falls into the water. When his head pops up again she continues, "If the Portugees Court is not willing to give you any money to sail West, there are two things you can do. One, you can swim West, you are already in the water. Or you can go somewhere else to get the capital you need. I am sure there are others interested in the financial benefits of a western route to India, in stead of trying to sail around Africa." Having said this Kate walks away.

Jeffrey watches her go, then decides to help Columbus out of the water.

"I'm sorry about the plunge you took. Kate can sometimes be ..."

"Your wife has a spirited character. You should keep her on a leash," a dripping wet Columbus tells him.

Jeffrey frowns his brow for a moment. When voyaging with Bogg people often assumed that Bogg was his father, that would make Kate his sister. But this is probably not the time to point that out to Columbus.

"She is right, though. If the Portugees Court is not willing to support your plans, then why don't you go to the Spanish Court? They're probably very interested to find a sea-route to India before the Portugees. And you could try to get private funding. How many merchants do you know that want to invest a little money in an expedition to a western route? Many little contributions make one large capital. Enough the equip three ships and sail West."

Columbus looks at him baffled. "I hadn't thought about it that way. Perhaps you are right. Perhaps my days in Portugal have come to an end, and must I look around for a new bread lord."

"Good luck on that." Jeffrey shakes his hand. "Now I will find Kate before she throws some other men into the water."

"Insuffrable man," Kate says when Jeffrey catches up with her. She keeps up her brisk pace.

"When they thaught you at School that Voyagers give history a push, did they forget to mention that didn't include people?"

Kate glares at him.

"Don't lecture me or I'll give you a push. So what's Columbus gonna do? Is he gonna swim West or will he go to Spain?"

"I don't know. You have the omni."

Kate stops to check the omni.

"Green light. I guess he's not going to swim."

--------

A/N: There is another Voyagers give Columbus a push in the right direction (although not as literally) story written by Douglas Neman. It can be found on _Voyagers! Headquarters the Unoffical Website_. That one however has two historical errors in it (four if I'm picky), so I felt free to write my own story on the same topic.


	5. Going Up, Falling Down

"It took a while, but here we finally are, Chicago, 7 June 1893. And there is the Ferris wheel. Shall we take a ride?"

Kate offers her arm to Jeffrey. He takes it. Together they walk up to the Ferris wheel. They find it's standing still. There is a crowd watching it, but no one in it. Is something wrong? Kate checks the omni, the light is green.

"There's George. Maybe he can tell us more." Jeffrey points.

"Kate. How nice to see you again."

"We thought we came to see if you succeeded in proposing the wheel to the exhibition people. You must have, it's here, but we see it's not running."

"No, we were a bit late assembling the whole thing. We're doing some trial runs today, and in a few days we will open for business."

"That's too bad. We won't be here anymore in a few days time."

"You can be the wheels first passengers. Come, we were just getting ready for another trial run." Ferris leads them to one of the cars. "Just take a seat anywhere. You are in for a treat."

"These are the little perks that make all the hassle worthwhile," Jeffrey says as the wheel starts moving.

"I don't think we've had much hassle so far."

"No, so far not much. So things can only get worse."

"Well, right now they're moving up." Kate smiles.

When they reach the top, the wheel stops.

"When do you think they'll call us home?" Jeffrey asks. He looks over the rail into the depth below. He used to love Ferris wheels and roller coasters as a kid. They have lost a little of what made them exciting: there is no roller coaster ride like voyaging.

"I'm surprised they haven't already. How long have we been gone? Three days. Someone must have noticed we're gone. Even if only Dad." Kate is holding on to her seat with both hands as the car rocks slowly in the wind. "I don't understand why they haven't called us back. They like you, so, I imagine they would want you back, and I'm sure they rather not have me bouncing around time. You may not know this of me, but I'm considered a bit of a loose cannon."

"I noticed when you pushed Columbus into the water."

"It got the job done."

"Yes, it did. Nice shade of green you're turning into, by the way. 'Fraid of heights?"

"Nope, it's this wind and the depth below me I don't like." Kate tries to give herself an air of thoughness by crossing her arms, but she quickly changes her mind and grabs hold of her seat again. Jeffrey chuckles. "Leave me alone or I'll make good on my promise of pushing you."

"That's what I've been meaning to ask you: isn't there anything in the Voyager Code about not trying to drown figures of historical significance, or break their necks?"

"You're not a figure of historical significance."

"I meant Columbus."

"Columbus can swim. That's how he ended up in Portugal in the first place. He shipwrecked six miles of the Portugees coast and then he swam to shore."

Jeffrey chuckles. He knew that of course, but it is nice to be around someone that can match his knowledge of historical trivia.

"The wheel is moving again."

The Ferris wheel completes its full turn. Kate and Jeffrey get out of their car.

"I thought you youngsters might like to enjoy the view from up there a little longer. How was it?" Ferris asks.

"I haven't really noticed any view." Kate tries to take a few deep breaths to relax her stomach.

"I expected you hadn't. Well, Kate, Jeff, I want to thank you for all your help. Especially you Kate, you are a woman after my own heart."

Kate laughs. "It was great working with you, George. I had a lot of fun."

"If you ever change your mind about becoming a teacher, you come and see me. I could hire you as one of my engineers. You could help me design more of these big wheels."

"Thank you, that's very kind."

Ferris extends a hand to Jeffrey. "Take care of her, you hear, she is a prize."

"I will." Jeffrey smiles.

------

"The Colombian Exposition was ..." Jeffrey starts.

"Is," Kate corrects. "We're at the Columbian Exposition now, so it is. If we still had been at that beach you could have said was."

Jeffrey gives her a questioning look.

"It's about tenses. You shouldn't refer to something that is happening now as if it happened in the past. Even if it did happen in the past for you."

"I guess English is not a very suitable language to use when you're talking time-travel." Jeffrey runs a hand through his hair. "Let me go on to say that the Columbian Exposition _is_ held in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the New World. It_ is _the first world fair with a separate area for entertainment. There_ is_ a zoo, funhouse mirrors, a wax museum, the Ferris Wheel, of course, and even a belly dancer from Egypt. All located here along the Midway Plaisance. Actually, Midway_ will_ become the common term for amusement areas at fairs, all named after this one.Or can't you say will either because it implies uncertainty, and we know for a fact that it is gonna happen?"

"No, I think you can use will, even if it does imply uncertainty, which I don't entirely agree with. But from this point in time on there's always something that can go wrong, requiring a Voyager to come by and give it a push in the right direction. Please, continue your story I won't say anything about the tenses anymore."

"You can be quite annoying, you know that."

"Just me?" Kate tries to sound surprised. "I'm just mentioning the tenses because they go wrong so many times among Voyagers."

"If you'd ask people what would be the main difficulties of time-travel I don't think any of them would list grammar."

Kate chuckles. "Probably not."

"There are some 200 buildings at the exposition, of which the Electricity Building was, is thought the most impressive. We could go there. Or we could go to see Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show. Unless you object to the Wild West so much you also don't want to go to shows about it."

"No, fine with me. Let's go there tomorrow. We could see the whole exhibition, but first do something about food and sleeping arrangements."

"I'd love to." It's been a while since he's eaten. "But, I don't know about you, but I don't have any money." Jeffrey pulls out the insides of his pockets to show he's flat broke.

"Well, let's see what we have here." Kate pulls a wallet out of her pocket and opens it.

"Where did you get that?"

"There was a man; he had it in his pocket."

"You stole it." Jeffrey sounds and looks accusingly.

"You're looking at me like that is some kind of crime."

"It is a crime."

"Yeah, I know that." Kate tries her best at a puppy dog guilty face to see if that can win her back Jeffrey's sympathy. When that doesn't seem to work she adds "doesn't mean you have to look at me like that."

"That class Bogg teaches, Basic Survival Skills, you must be getting top marks there." Wasn't there something in the Voyager Code too about steeling?

"Perfect score." Kate takes the money from the wallet and puts it in her pocket. She bins the wallet.

"Your Dad must be so proud."

---------

After their meal Jeffrey and Kate study the advertisments for hotel rooms. They end up in a place called _The Castle_ and take two rooms on the second floor. The receptionist at the front desk apologizes that the rooms aren't nearer to eachother; they are so crowded with tourists. She asks them to pay for their rooms in advance. In the previous month several tourists have disappeared without properly checking out and paying for their rooms. Kate sees no problem in this and puts the cash on the counter. They receive their keys and go up the stairs.

The second floor hall is narrow and winding and has many doors. It takes them a while to find their rooms. They say good night and turn into their respective rooms. Despite the receptionist's claim the rooms are pretty near.

Jeffrey opens the door to his room and turns on the gas lamp. He immediately gets an eerie feeling about the room. There's no window in it for one. He goes back to Kate's room. She answers his knock on the door quick enough, but she's not happy to see him. She's half undressed and ready for bed.

"There's no window in my room," Jeffrey starts.

"Is that a slang term for bed?"

"No, a window with glass so you can look out of it."

"We're here to sleep, not look out of windows. Do you need a window to sleep?"

"No, on the plantation I always slept in a hut that didn't have a window or a bed. That's not the problem. I just had expected better from a hotel."

"This is not a luxery hotel; this is a tourist trap. You get what you pay for: the bare minimum. A bed to sleep in and a door to close. I suggest you do both and not wake me up again until tomorrow morning. If you're afraid of the dark you should sleep with the light on. 'Night." Without further ado Kate closes the door. Jeffrey knocks on the door again. Kate doesn't open it, but tells him through the closed door, "We have a green light here. We can sleep safely. Now, go to bed."

Jeffrey does as Kate has told him. He goes to bed, but leaves the light on. That doesn't help to shake the eerie feeling off. There is something about this hotel that bothers him. It's not just that his room hasn't got a window. How can there be so many doors in the hall way? He stares at the ceiling and the spooky shadows the gas light throws on it. It takes him a long time to fall asleep.

--------

A man sneaks into Kate's room through a secret door. He carefully closes the door, trying not to disturb the sleeping woman. He goes round the room in search of valuables. He tries to be quiet, but he makes a noise which wakes Kate up.

"Is that you, Jeff?" She scrambles out of bed to turn on the light. She hears the soft breathing of a person standing in the room with her. "This isn't funny, Jeff."

The man throws a scarf round her neck and pulls it tight. Kate claws at the garotte, to no avail. She looses consiousness and her body goes limp. The man picks her up and carries her off to another room.


	6. Food for Thought

Bogg lays out the ingredients he needs on his kitchen counter. He probably won't be able to eat anyway later on, but cooking will take his mind of things. He starts by boiling some water. He juggles with a lemon and two onions. When he drops one of the onions it roles underneath a cupboard. He puts his other 'juggling balls' on the counter and gets down on all fours to retrieve the one that got away.

"Bogg!" he says to himself reproachfully. "How many times have I told you not to play with your food?"

He pours the rice in the boiling water to cook, then gets out his cutting board and starts chopping up an onion and a clove of garlic. He moves the chopped bits into a bowl and ads three table spoons of _ketjap manis_ and one table spoon of _sambal oelek_.

"Almost out of sambal, I should make a trip to Indonesia soon."

Bogg cuts the lemon in half. Using only his hand he squeezes the juice from one half of lemon into the bowl. He stirs up the ingredients in the bowl. Then he takes out a plastic cutting board to cut the chicken breast into cubes of about half an inch. When the rice is ready he drains of the excess water. He adds the diced chicken to the ingredients in the bowl and immediately cleans the cutting board and the knife he used. He stirs the ingredients in the bowl so that all the chicken is covered by the marinade. Bogg turns to the rice to make_ longtong_. He transfers the rice to a lightly greased backing pan and covers it with a teatowel and a heavy weight. Now he has to wait.He stares into the bowl of chicken thoughtfully.

Why did he decide to make _sate ayam_? Cooking was a good idea, but he now has to leave the chicken to marinade for an hour. What's he gonna do in the mean time? Fret most likely. He could go over to Susan's and ask her if she'd like to have dinner with him. The company would be nice and there's too much food for one anyway. Bogg can't even remember the last time he ate alone. That must have been a good twenty years ago. He could wait for Jeff and Kate to come home for dinner, but he doubts they'll make it. Last he saw of them, they were at some sort of carnaval and it looked like they were gonna stay. It made him sick. Here he was, worried, watching them over the Omnitron, and there they were, carefree, taking rides in big wheels. Well, at least Kate looked very uncomfortable in the big wheel. Which serves her just right. Darn kids. He was so annoyed with them that he didn't even want to know anymore what they were up to next and left his station at the Omnitron.

------

To his surprise Bogg doesn't find Susan at her house. Poor girl, always working. Voyagers should really start recruiting more administrative personnel to take some of the work load of the ones they've got; before those start to buckle under the strain.

The door to Susan's office is open. She herself is hidden behind a pile of dossiers. The knock on the door startles her.

"Phineas." Her smile is a little nervous.

"Burning the midnight oil again?"

"Oh, you know me. Always thinking things can't wait another day."

"You should take a leaf from my book occassionally."

"I thought the leaves in your book said things like 'there's no time like the present'?"

"Yes, those are the leaves I want you to take. I don't want them anymore." He shifts his weight uneasily.

"Phineas, are you all right?"

"No." Phineas looks up at her. "Jeff used to complain a lot that we were never taking any holidays or such. And now he's out there, with Kate, just taking holidays. It's like his trying to get back at me."

"I'm sure it's not because he's angry with you that he's not back yet."

"Then what is it that's keeping them?"

"I -- I don't know. Maybe Jeffrey does need a holiday. That's reasonable after all he's been through. But if he'd been angry with you, wouldn't you think he would confront you with it?"

"He always used to," Bogg agrees. He nods slowly. "Talking to you always makes me feel better."

"I'm glad to help. Any more moral support I can give you?"

"Have dinner with me. I'm cooking."

Susan looks surprised. "What are you cooking?"

"Does it matter? C'mon, you need to eat. Y'ave dinner with me, and after that you can get back to your paperwork."

"Okay. You're right, I should eat. How else am I going to be a big girl?" she jokes. "I'll have dinner with you. Say, in about an hour?"

"Hour's good. See you then."

A little perked up Bogg returns to his cottage.

------

He feels the backing pan to see how the cooling of the rice is coming along. He always forgets to put it in some cold water to speed up the process. Not too late to do that now, he thinks to himself as he puts the plug in the sink and opens the cold water tab. He stirs the bowl of chicken again. The marinading is coming along nicely. Now to making the sauce to go with the satay.

Bogg takes one large clove of garlic, cleans it and cuts it lengthwise in two. With the tip of his knife he removes the core of the garlic. Someone once told him you get less garlicy breath if you remove the core. He always wonders whether that is true, but as many times he concludes that it doesn't hurt to remove the core, so why not? He chops the garlic very fine. Next up the onion. Chopping that into tiny bits brings tears to his eyes.

"Wouldn't want Susan to think I've been crying." He dabs the tears away with the sleaves of his shirt. "Why not?" She wouldn't think less of him if he'd been crying. She probably would put her arms around him and hold him. It would be nice if she held him. He muses over it. Very nice if she held him. He's been a widower for over ten years; already long ago it became okay for him to think about other women like that. But he shouldn't think of Susan in that way.

"Snap out of it. Susan is one of your oldest and dearest friends. You don't want to jeopardize that," he tells himself.

"No, I don't," he agrees.

"Return to your onion."

He fries the onion and garlic lightly in some butter, then adds a cup of peanutbutter and a cup of milk. He stirs these till he has a smooth, slightly thick sauce. He adds some brown sugar, lemon juice, sambal and ketjap to taste.

"Very nice."

He takes the sauce pan of the heat and puts on a frying pan. He heats some oil in the pan and quickly fries the diced chicken. He turns of the heat. He puts a lid on the pan to keep the chicken warm. He cleans cutting board and knife to make a cumcumber salade. Last he cuts the slab of now cold rice into cubes.

Dinner is ready. Time for Susan to come. As if she has been waiting for that cue by the door, Susan comes walking in.

"It all smells wonderful." She greets him with a peck on the cheeck.

"It tastes wonderful too. Sit, sit, so we can eat."


	7. Quick Check Out

Jeffrey wakes up. His stomach is tied in a knot. The eerie feeling is getting stronger. He is feeling very uncomfortable. He's been in a lot of scary places in his life, but this 'Castle' takes top rating. He gets up and starts to get dressed. Doesn't matter what Kate thinks: they're leaving. There has to be something wrong with a place that makes him feel this uncomfortable.

He rushes over to Kate's room and knocks on the door. No answer.

"C'mon, Kate. Wake up." Jeffrey is getting very nervous. He opens the door and finds the room empty. Where is Kate? Did he get the wrong room? He tries the door next to it. It opens to a brick wall. What is this? A haunted house? Just a nightmare? His heart is pounding in his troath. He starts knocking on doors randomly and shouting out Kate's name. Some doors are opened by people in their night shirts. Others stay closed. Jeffrey jerks those open. They open to empty rooms, rooms with iron sheeted walls, a room with scorch marks on the door, and more brick walls.

Panic is starting to get the better of him. Jeffrey finds a door that doesn't open. It is locked and something tells him Kate's behind it. He throws his body against the door. It doesn't give. He shouts for help. A few of the hotel guests he has woken up come over to help. With their joint efforts they break down the door.

Kate is lying on the floor in the middle of the small room. Jeffrey rushes over to her and shakes her shoulder.

"C'mon, Kate. Wake up."

"What's that smell?" one of the men by the door asks.

"Gas." Jeffrey jumps up. He pulls Kate up and throws her arm around his shoulder. She growns. Oh, lucky, she's alive. Where's the omni? "Kate! Where's the omni?"

"Room," she manages. Jeffrey looks around the room.

"There's nothing in here!" His panic is reaching dangerous levels. Haunted house, Kate nearly killed, omni missing, his bruised shoulder telling him this is not a nightmate but really happening.

"Room," Kate repeats and manages a little gesture with her hand out of the room. The room she was staying in. With Kate leaning heavy on his shoulder Jeffrey tries to go overthere as quick as possible. Kate, the narrow hall way and the crowd that has gathered in it hampering him. Back in Kate's original room he props Kate against the wall and looks around the room. Nothing.

"Where is it?" he shouts.

"Pill ..." Kate slides down the wall and falls on the floor.

Jeffrey pulls the pillow from the bed. There it is. He grabs it, rushes over to Kate and grabs her by the arm. They're not staying here another second. He triggers the omni.

--------

They appear in an open space in the woods, but Jeffrey's too worried about Kate to notice. He drops the omni and kneels beside her. What should he do? Think, think. He hits the heels of his hands against his forehead. Stop panicing for one. Panic is of no use in a situation like this. Calm, he knows how to do this, he has done it before. Why hasn't he practiced? STOP PANICING! he shouts to himself, you're loosing valuable time here. First check for breathing. Jeffrey tilts Kate's head back to free the airway, then places a hand on her chest and holds his cheek just above her mouth. He can't detect any breathing, no movement of her chest. Why did he omni out? One of the bystanders could have gone for help. FOCUS! Next, check for a pulse. He moves his fingers carefully down her neck until he finds a little groove. There, there it is, a pulse. Now, mouth-to-mouth breathing. Just as Jeffrey is getting ready to deliver his first burst of air he hears Kate cough. He checks again for breathing. YES. She is breathing. It is faint, but she is breathing. He roles Kate on her left side in the recovery position.

Jeffrey drops down beside her and checks his own pulse and breathing. Both rapid. His heart is pounding in his troath. What kind of hotel is that where they put guests in a gaschamber? He has never heard of such a thing. No wait, he has. There was a kid in his school with an unhealthy interest in serial killers. He told him about it. America's first serial killer, he said, had a hotel in Chicago where he would toture his guests or asphyxiate them in specially designed gaschambers. That's where Kate and he were staying. No wonder he had an eerie feeling. And the omni had given a green light!

Jeffrey feels his heart rate slow down. He checks Kate's breathing. Still there, getting stronger. He closes his eyes and falls a sleep.


	8. Then Everything Goes Swimmingly

When Jeffrey opens his eyes again Kate is staring straight at him. Is she ...? No, she just blinked.

"How are you?" He touches her arm lightly. Kate is still lying in the recovery position.

"Cold," she replies.

"I'm sorry. I didn't think to bring a blanket."

"I'm half naked."

"I hadn't noticed."

"Sure." Her father had explained to her about the perception of boys in general and their perception when it came to girls in particular.

"Really." Jeffrey wants to keep looking in her eyes, but there is something in the way she said 'sure' that makes his eyes dart down. The he notices the marks in her neck. "What is this?" He touches them lightly. Kate winces.

"Someone tried to strangle me. I don't know what happened after that. I guess we voyaged."

"We did. We're not in Kansas anymore."

"I never thought we were."

Jeffrey chuckles, despite himself. Can't paraphrazes movie quotes to Voyagers; they don't get them. Kate's dry remark takes a lot of his worries away. He rubs her arm to comfort her, and in part, himself.

"Where are we?"

Jeffrey veers up. The omni. He finds it on the ground next to Kate.

"Southern part of Sweden, 1676, red light."

"Technically, in 1676 the most southern part of Sweden was Pomerania, which at the reshuffeling of boarders after World War II became part of Germany, East-Germany more particularly."

Jeffrey roles his eyes and gives Kate a push against her shoulder. "Get up. You have recovered. You don't need to be in the recovery position anymore."

Kate roles on her stomach. "Seen as in these parts a war is going on in 1676 I rather not go strudding around the woods half naked."

"If you get up we can go and get yourself some pants. They won't come to you on their own."

Kate considers this and gets up. She tries to pull her shirt down as far as possible.

"Or you could wear it like that," Jeffrey suggests. "Miniskirt, very fashionable in the 70's."

Kate glares at him. "1970's, not 1670's."

Jeffrey laughs. "Whatever the era, you have the legs for it." He suddenly stops laughing and quickly turns around before Kate can see him turn red. "Let's go. This way." Kate follows him, carefully on her bare feet, having a private chuckle.

---------

After a while they hear shouting. They follow the sounds and find a small lake and some men playing in the water. Kate's eye immediately falls on the clothes they have left behind. She sneaks over and helps herself to what she needs.

"Before you put those on you could use a bath yourself." Jeffrey points out.

Kate takes one look at herself and quickly agrees.

"But I'm not taking a bath here."

"We can find another spot."

Jeffrey and Kate continue through the woods rounding the lake until they find another open space.

"This place is even more beautiful." Jeffrey takes of his clothes, runs into the water and takes a plunge. "Oh, Kate, you have to come into the water. It is great."

Kate takes his word for it and wades into the water until it is at thigh height. Careful not to get her clothes wet she washes the dirt of her face, arms and legs. Jeffrey splashes some water at her.

"C'mon, you loved the water on Hawaii. This is even better. You must have a swim here."

"I'd rather not."

"C'mon, why not?"

Jeffrey grabs Kate by her arm and pulls her down. She disappears under water and resurfaces with her arms flapping wildly. She doesn't stop flapping until she finds firm ground for her feet to stand on.

"Don't ever do that again," she hishes at him.

Jeffrey looks at her in bewilderment. "Are you all right?"

"I can't swim."

"I'm sorry, Kate. I didn't know that."

"Well, now you do." Kate turns around and starts wading out of the water.

"I can teach you how to swim. Now is as good a time as any."

"No thanks, I've had enough near death experiences for one week."

Jeffrey can't really blame her for that. He dives back in and swims away. Kate greets the dry land and hangs her wet things out to dry. She puts on 'her' pants and Jeffrey's shirt and sits down waiting for Jeffrey to return, trying to figure out what the red light could mean.

She rests her head against the tree trunk. She watches Jeffrey play in the water. She should learn to swim sometime; it looks like fun. At least Jeffrey's having fun again. No thanks to her. She takes him to his parents, and then she takes him away. How cruel is that? "Why won't you go back to 1989?" she asks the omni. It just blinks its red light at her in reply. Jeffrey's been so nice to her. He hasn't played the guilt card at all. Not that he'd have to; she feels bad enough without any outside help. And the Council isn't helping either. What's taking them so long to get them home? She didn't turn the homing signal off, did she? She looks the omni over. No way of telling.

Kate takes a deep breath and resolves herself to be friendlier to Jeffrey. He doesn't deserve this, and he saved her life. Why was she so unpleasant to him the other day anyway? Because all this waiting for the Council to get them home is getting on her nerves. And if it hadn't been for Jeffrey, it also would have gotten her killed. She should not take her anger with the Council out on him. She should be nice to him, and maybe he'll like her and be her friend. She'd like that. She's never had a friend close to her own age. Kate closes her eyes.

She's woken up by Jeffrey who rubs his hand through his wet her and splashes Kate in the proces, purposefully.

"You're wearing my shirt," he points out.

"You can wear mine."

"That's probably still wet."

"You got it wet."

Jeffrey has a feel at the shirt. "It's dry." He throws it at her. "And so are your other things." He throws them at her too. "Now, I'd like my shirt back. I won't look." Kate raizes an eyebrow. Jeffrey sighs and turns around. Kate has another quiet chuckle and changes into her own clothes. "Are you done yet?"

"All done." Kate throws him his shirt in his neck. "Here's your shirt. Now you can get dressed too. I won't look." Kate puts a hand before her eyes and turns her head away.

Jeffrey gives her a quiet 'haha' and puts his shirt on. He flops down beside her.

"Now we're both washed, freshened up and dressed we can start to think about what is wrong here."

"Like I said before, a war. The Danish-Swedish war over Scania."

"Can't say I know much about that. 1675-1679, Swedes won."

"There's not much we can do here then, if neither of us knows anything about this war. We might as well leave."

"Very unsatisfactory option." Jeffrey shakes his head. "It'll gnaw at me if we don't find out what's going on here. I think we should do some recon."

"Recon?"

"Reconnaissance. It means to find out what's going on."

"I know what recon means. I was just asking in respect to how do you suppose we do that here?"

"Well, those men we saw earlier, they might have an encampment out here somewhere. We could try to find out where it is and then infiltrate their camp."

"Infiltrate?"

"Infiltrate is to go in ..." Kate hits him. "Or we could lure one of them out of the camp and you could beat the information out of him."

Kate hits him again. Jeffrey rolls over laughing. Kate shakes off her resolve. No point in being nice to people making fun of you.


	9. Reinforcements

"Wow." Is the only thing Susan can say. Bogg is standing in front of her dressed in his old pirate's clothes.

"I look good, don't I?"

"Uh-huh."

"I've tried to keep in shape the past twenty years." He pats himself on the stomach. "Plus I haven't been able to eat much in the last couple of days so I lost a few pounds there too."

"And it's a very loose shirt, that also helps." It doesn't need to, she's surprised to find, except for the few gray hairs and the slight saggyness of the skin, he still looks as good as ever. "Why the change of costume?"

"I'm going in. Kate and Jeff have been gone for three days. Either something's wrong and they're not able to get back here. Or they're totally inconsiderate for my feelings of worry for them. In which case I'm going in to knock some sense into them."

"I agree."

"You do?"

"Well, except for the part where knock is something you actually physically do."

"I don't think it will be. They're in Sweden now. I just want to know why they're on the world tour. Will you help me so I can omni in close to their location?"

"Of course."

------

Jeffrey and Kate decide that they will first try to find out where the camp is and think of a follow up plan once they've found it and know how big it is and things like that. Thus they start making their way back through the woods, back to where they first saw the group of men swim. Suddenly they hear gun fire. Jeffrey immediately drops to the ground. He pulls Kate down aswell.

"Do you think they're firing at us?" Kate asks.

A bullet lodges into the tree just above Jeffrey's head.

"I know so," Jeffrey replies. They wait quietly. The shooting has stopped. "This is not good. They're probably reloading. Overthere is a dirt wall. We can hide behind that."

Jeffrey jumps up. Hunched over he runs in a zigzag towards the dirt wall and hides behind it. Kate follows his example. Another bullet is fired, but misses target.

"What do we do now?"

"Hmm. Having bullets fired at you makes that gnawing feeling a lot less annoying."

"Kate? Jeffrey?"

"They know our names?" Jeffrey gives Kate a surprised look.

"I don't think so."

They look over the dirt wall.

"Dad," Kate shouts. "Duck."

Bogg, who has just appeared, immediately drops to the ground. Just in time as bullets start flying over his head. He waits for a little lull in the shooting and makes his way over to the two youngsters behind the dirt wall. He is greeted with enthousiasm by them.

"What are you doing here?" Kate asks. Never having been to any teenage parties she's not used to being picked up by her dad at a quarter to twelve.

"I came to check on you. Why haven't you omnied home yet?"

"Home button doesn't work. Why haven't you homed us yet? You seem to want us to come back."

"Joseph decided we should give you the opportunity to show your good intentions and wait for you to come home on your own."

"Obviously Joseph didn't take failure of technology into his considerations."

"Who's Joseph?" Jeffrey asks.

"Joseph is one of the elders," Bogg replies.

"I thought Garth was the last of the elders."

"Well, Joseph is the latest of the elders."

Kate chuckles at her father's reply.

"I hope you brought your guidebook," she says.

"Always travel without one," Bogg replies with a smug look on his face. "Besides we don't need one, we have a Jeffrey."

"That one has a few pages missing. He doesn't know what's going on, or what should be going on."

"Heay, give me a break. I can't know every event that ever took place."

"Why not?" father and daughter ask in unison.

"You are both impossible." He turns to look over the dirt wall. "I think the shooting has stopped."

"Are the shooters still there?" Bogg asks.

"Probably."

"Then we stay put." Bogg checks his own omni. "1676 July 23, there is something familiar about that date. Give me a moment. It'll come to me." Kate and Jeffrey wait in quiet anticipation. "Loshult Raid." Bogg snaps his fingers.

"Never heard of it." Jeffrey makes a face.

"The Danish side attacked a train holding a Swedish war-chest and some personal belongings of the Swedish king."

Kate mimics 'will attack' for the past tense Bogg used.

"Stop that," Bogg tells her and continues, "it was a blow to the Swedes, but not as big a deal as the Danes made out of it." Bogg smiles, finally an event he knows more about than the kid. "There's still enough time if we work on this after dark. Which gives us some time to catch up. So, where have you all been?"

"You know very well where we've been," Kate replies.

"I don't particularly care for your tone, young lady."

"I don't particularly care for being held hostage in time."

"That wasn't my choice. If it was up to me I would have had you back in five minutes and grounded you for three months."

"I also don't care for being held hostage on the Island." Bogg and Kate engage into a staring match.

"What are you? Twelve?"

"I must be. You just suggested grounding me."

"Guys," Jeffrey interrupts. "Could you put you father-daughter moment on hold as long as there are people around who want to shoot us?" Grumpily both agree that would be the smart thing to do.

"It really is time you grow up, Kate. I never gave my parents this much trouble."

"You ran away from home at the age of fourteen or fifteen to embark on a pirateship."

"How do you know that?" Round two of the staring match.

"I read your dossier. There is nothing else to do on the Island than to read everything I could get my hands on."

"My dossier is not in the public library."

"I had to practice my lock picking skills somewhere."

"Did I say three months grounded, make that six months."

"It is heart warming how much you want me back."

"Why are you being so hostile towards me?"

"Because." Kate swallows. "Because you, you, everybody at Headquarters, you knew, you could have known, you should have known, that we went away with an omni that didn't have a functioning home button." Kate clenches her fists. She's fighting the tears in her eyes. "And you left us out here."

"We didn't know that." Bogg is shocked by what he hears.

"I took the omni that was labled Phineas Bogg."

"I didn't know that." Bogg shakes his head. His voice turns quieter. "I didn't know you took that one. They didn't tell me."

"They knew. They also knew the home button on that omni doesn't work. It's in your dossier. They left us ... We're lost in time, and they left us." Kate gives up the fight with her tears and lets them flow freely. Bogg throws his arms around his daughter and tries to console her. Kate buries her face in his shoulder.

"I didn't know that, Kate. Honestly, I didn't know that. When we get back to Headquarters, I'll have a thing or two to say about this to the Council."

Jeffrey feels sick. Kate never mentioned HQ knew for a fact that Bogg's old omni didn't work properly. She told him HQ would guess that after a while. Resentments and hostilities towards the Council engulf him. The Council knew they were lost in time and they just left them there. After he had just been lost for five years. He wants to throw up.

"Uhm, guys." Jeffrey taps Kate on her shoulder, staring down the barrel of a musket. Kate and Bogg look up from their embrace. They are surrounded. One of the musket holding men instructs them to get up.

"Right." Bogg stretches himself to full length. "Take me to your leader."

No response. He repeats his demand in a Scandinavian language. The men look at eachother. One of them nods to the others.

"Come," he says to his prisoners.

The Voyagers are taken to a small encampment a few miles further into the woods. Where Kate and Jeffrey are instructed to wait with two men guarding them. Bogg is taken to one of the tents. Kate and Jeffrey sit down on some tree logs and wait.


	10. Swedish Behavior

Bogg looks around the tent. It contains a table and a few chairs. A number of muskets ly on the table and in the corner stand a few powder kegs. Not really a place where you'd leave a prisoner alone. No wonder Swedes won.

"You asked to see me." A man enters the tent. Bogg turns around.

"I asked to be taken to their leader."

"I am the leader. Who are you?"

"Phineas Bogg."

"Bogg. Your name sounds Swedish, but your tongue doesn't."

"Foreign influences. I travel around a lot."

"Hmm. What did you want to see me about?" The man sits down and indicates to Bogg he can have a seat too.

"I have some information for you, you may like to hear."

"What kind of information?"

"I know how expensive fighting a war can be. Particullarly when fighting a guerilla war. No one to officially back you up. Can be tough to keep the men motivated this way."

"I already know that. Do you also have some information for me that is new?"

"Possibly. A train containing a Swedish war chest, and the king's tent, will halt at Loshult tomorrow. You can use the money to fund your war efforts for at least a couple of months."

The man sizes him up. "Why can I trust this information? It could be a trap. Why would the king bring his train to Loshult, but not bring enough men to guard it?"

"Well, the king. The king is only 19, a child. He's not educated in running a state, and I hear he can barely read. He's not fit to be our king. It's time we got back under Danish rule."

The man nods. "Very good. Now, tell me more about this train."

Bogg smiles. Phase one is completed.

------

After a while Kate moves closer to Jeffrey.

"I don't like the way that guy is looking at me," she whispers to him.

"Which one?"

"Anyone. Take your pick. It feels like he's undressing me with his eyes."

"As long as it is just his eyes you don't have anything to worry about." Normally Jeffrey wouldn't have said a thing like this, but right now he's a bit pissed with Kate for not telling him Council knew their home button doesn't work. What did she think? That he couldn't handle that kind of information. On top of everything else. Ha. He is the expert of handling bad news. He's been handling bad news since he was twelve.

Before Kate can start yelling at Jeffrey that she finds his comment completely useless and if it was meant to reassure her than it has utterly failed, the staring man gets up and starts talking to her.

"Those boots belong to my friend."

"What?"

"Those boots you are wearing, you took them from my friend."

"There was no man in these boots when I put them on."

"Take them off, they belong to my friend."

"Can your friend prove that these are his boots?"

"Nils!" the man shouts without taking his eyes of Kate. "Nils, can you come over here? There's something I want to show you." Half a dozen or so men answer his call. "Nils, are those your boots?"

"They can't be his," Kate interrupts. "He's already wearing boots."

"Yes, those are mine," Nils replies. "Look, that's where I tore them and stitched them back together."

"And I'll bet those are my pants," another man says.

"Right," the first man says. "Are you gonna give Nils back his boots, and Petr his pants?"

"That depends, are they going to ask nicely?"

"I know a way," Petr says and picks Kate up by her shoulder.

A few others try to grab her legs. Kate manages to kick one of them where it hurts the most. Jeffrey jumps up, shouting at them to stop. He hasn't been able to follow the conversation as it was held in a language foreign to him, but he knows he doesn't like the outcome of it. He tries to pull a man away from Kate.

The commotion that is going on attracts others and also Bogg comes running out of his meeting.

"What is going on here?" he demands to know. He grabs what seems to be the leader of the pack by the shoulder and gives him a good shake.

"She stole Nils' boots and we're getting them back for him. And Petr's pants."

"Which one is Nils?" Several fingers point in one direction. "Nils, you're already wearing boots. Why do you need those as well?"

"They're mine and I want them back. If that's okay?" He buckles a little under Bogg's stare.

"No, it is not." Bogg throws some coins at him. "Here's some money. Buy yourself a new pair if you need a spare pair of boots that badly, and leave my daughter alone."

Nils picks up the coins.

"What about my pants?" Petr starts. Bogg glares at him. "I'll just ask Nils for some money."

The men still holding on to Kate put her back on her feet. Some mumble apologies. Someone gives her back the boot they managed to take from her. All return to their previous occupations.

"Are you all right?" Bogg asks his daughter.

"Sort of." She hops on one foot to put the boot back on. "Have you told them about the train? Can we go now?"

"There is still a red light. I have told them about the train, but I think we have to stick around to see if they execute the plan accordingly. They've assigned us two tents for the night."

"No way am I sleeping alone tonight."

"Of course not. We're all sleeping in the same tent." Bogg puts his arms around the shoulders of Kate and Jeffrey, pulls them close and kisses them both. Kate wraps her arms around her father in respons. Jeffrey feels Bogg is getting a bit too close for comfort and tries to pull away, but Bogg's grip on him is strong. "Have you two troublemakers any idea how worried I have been about you? Huh? What on earth possessed you to take off with an omni like that?"

"I don't know. Maybe Jeff can explain."

"Jeff?" Bogg turns his head to him in surprise.

"I guess I forgot how sensitive the triggerbutton is."

"But I was very worried I would never see you again, Dad." Kate tightens her grip. "And right now I'm worried you have lost your mind a bit with worry over us. What's with the cleavage?" She pulls on his shirt.

"I have you know this is an authentic pirate's costume. Leave it."

"Aren't you worried you could catch a cold with so much chest exposed?"

"Bogg likes to wear it that way to impress the women he meets," Jeffrey offers.

"There aren't any women here," Kate replies. "But I saw a few of the men raize their eyebrows and look quite pleased with what they saw."

"Will you both cut it out before I start regreting coming after you? In stead, tell me what you have been up to. I know where you have been." Bogg gives Kate's shoulder a squeeze. "But there was no sound, so I don't know what you did."

"Well, first we landed in 1963," Jeffrey starts. "Although landing is not exactly the right word."

"Yeah, that's a great feature," Bogg replies. He directs them to a place where they can sit down while the 'troublemakers' recount their adventures.

"Not much to do in 1963," Jeffrey continues, "there was already a green light, so we went on. Stopped over in 1989 for a short spell, and after that we went to Miami where we were instrumental in making Woodstock happen."

Kate is surprised Jeffrey doesn't tell more about 1989. But perhaps he doesn't like to talk about loosing his parents again. If he doesn't like to be reminded, she's not going to bring it up.

"Woodstock? Should I know about that?" Bogg asks.

"Three days of Love, Peace and Rock Music," Jeffrey replies.

"Did you go there?" Bogg asks Kate.

"Just for the rock music. There were too many people around for the other two." Kate still has her arms wrapped around him. She rests her head against his shoulder and yawns.

"Kate played quite an important role in bringing about a few green lights," Jeffrey says. "She practically designed the first Ferris Wheel herself. And she gave Columbus a push that really rinsed the obstructions from his mind." Kate chuckles. "Very impressive for someone on her first voyage."

"Not unlike someone else I know on his first voyage." Bogg nods knowingly to Jeffrey.

"Yeah, but mine where just lucky guesses. She actually looked like she knew what she was doing." Jeffrey scratches his head a little embarrassed. It has been so long since he received any kind of compliment that he doesn't know how to respond to it anymore.

"She should. She is trained as a Voyager. You weren't."

"Is she sleeping now?"

"I guess she is."

"She sure sleeps a lot. She also napped a couple of hours this afternoon."

"I think she has some sleep to catch up. She sat up with you when you slept for 30 hours straight after I first got you form the plantation."

"I didn't know that. Thanks for getting me out."

"No thanks required. I'm sorry I couldn't have gotten you out five years sooner."

"That's okay. I spent five years on a plantation, you kept looking for me for 21; I'm just glad it wasn't the other way around."

"I guess you're right. You wanna talk about your time there?"

"Not really. I want to put that whole period of my life in one of the darkest corners of my memory, lock the door behind me and throw away the key."

"I understand."

"What about you? What did you do in those 21 years?"

"Look for you mainly. I've combed a large part of history in search for you. And I had Kate."

"You had the family you've always wanted."

"Yeah. For a short time. It was never a complete family, though, without you."

Jeffrey gives a little smile. Bogg kept looking for him for all these years, wanted to make him part of his family. He feels a bit disheartened to tell him he found his own family. He doesn't want to disappoint Bogg.

"I see you finally got rid of the girlish haircut," Bogg says.

"Hmm." Jeffrey pulls on a curl and straightens it out down his forehead. "According to the plantation master there was a law in Ceylon that said that slaves that didn't speak Dutch couldn't wear their hair long."

"Did that encourage you to learn Dutch?"

"A little, but I don't think master would have let anyone wear their hair long unless they spoke Dutch like a native. Like I said, I don't want to talk about that time."

Bogg nods. They sit in silence, each with their own thoughts.

"I think we should go to bed. Busy day tomorrow to see if these snapp-hane can pull of a heist."

"But it isn't even dark yet," Jeffrey protests.

"Summer in Sweden, it only gets dark for a couple of hours a night. And I think I, and you too, need a little more sleep than that." Bogg gets up carefully not to wake up Kate. He hoists her up over his shoulder. "This way to our tent."

"What did you just say about snapp-hane?"

"Snapp-hane were Swedes who fought on the Danish side. They were, are a bit of a guerilla army. The Swedes thought them bandits, Danes called them freedom fighters. The Loshult Raid was one of their biggest successes. After the war, however, most of them had to flee the country, the ones that didn't were killed."

"Hmm. How come you know so much about this Loshult Raid? I've never heard of it."

"I used to be a pirate, Jeffrey. I know about looting."

Jeffrey considers this to be a fair reason.

They go into their tent. Bogg carefully lays down Kate on their matrass of straw and stretches out next to her.

"'Night, Jeffrey."

"'Night, Bogg."


	11. Time to go Home

Jeffrey sighs. He has been staring at the ceiling of the tent for ages it seems. He turns his head to the right. Kate's sleeping, Bogg's arm protectively around her. He wishes someone'd put a protective arm around him. He wishes he was back with his folks. He sighs again and turns his bead back to the tent ceiling.

It's all getting a bit too much for him. Less than a week ago life was simple. He got up in the morning, worked in the plantation until sun down and went to bed. Then Bogg came back into his life, for which he is glad, really glad. But, apparently, with a Bogg around, you don't stay in a place long. Even if you want to. His folks. They must be worried to death. Bad choice of words.

If he'd been able to stay with them, if Kate hadn't ... He would have never seen Bogg again. And it is great seeing him again, talking to him. But given the choice, he'd rather never see Bogg again, than never see his folks again. He wonders if Voyager Council would let him go back to his folks. Kate said that Council likes him, but he's not to sure of that: they let him voyage around with an omni that doesn't have a functioning home button. The same omni that already got him lost in time once!

When he was thirteen his future looked simple: he was going to be a Voyager. Five years on a plantation and a few days later that may still be his future, but he doesn't want it anymore. He wants to go back to his folks, live a normal life, voyage the way normal people do: by train or plane. And if he's gonna time travel, it will be a trip down memory lane. Manual labor on the plantation must be bad for the memory. He had forgotten about the hardship of a Voyager's life. He wants no part of it anymore. He sighs.

"Can't you sleep?" Kate whispers to him.

"No. Too much light here," he whispers back. "Why can't you sleep?"

"Too tense. I'll sleep again when I'm in my own bed. All those years when dad told me stories about voyaging, he made it seem like so much fun, but I feel like I'm constantly drawing the short end of the straw."

"C'mon, we've had fun. That was a pretty funny face Columbus made when you pushed him into the water."

"Yeah, that was fun." She chuckles. "But if it hadn't been for you my fun would have probably ended just there permanently. Have I given you a proper thank you for that?"

"No, I don't think you have."

"Well, thank you." She strokes his arm.

"It was nothing," he says. "You had hidden the omni, it was the only thing I could do to find out where."

"Tease." She shakes him lightly. He puts a hand on hers.

"I also would have done it if you hadn't hidden the omni."

"Go to sleep."

"'Night." Jeffrey closes his eyes for a moment. Only for the sake of Kate he is glad he has voyaged with her. He opens his eyes again. "Kate?" No response. "Never mind." He closes his eyes and tries to concentrate on sleeping.

---------

The next morning they are woken up by men getting ready for a train ambush. When they open their tent they see a horse dragging a cannon.

"I thought you said the snapp-hane used guerrilla tactics to attack the Swedish. A cannon doesn't look very guerrilla." Jeffrey points out.

"Don't ask me where they got the cannon, but it seems useful if you want to attack a train."

--------

After a short skirmish the Swedish retreat and the train is left for the snapp-hane and the local villagers to loot. Bogg, Jeffrey and Kate overlook the ravages form the church wall. Kate takes the omni from her belt.

"Green light. Can we go now?" She jumps to the ground.

"I'd like to go to 1989," Jeffrey says. He jumps to the ground as well.

Kate looks at him and bites her lip. "Oh, Jeff."

"I saw on the Omnitron you were in 1989 already. How did you get there if you have my old omni? It only goes up to 1970."

"Simple. I opened it up, and reset the time ..." Kate starts. Bogg puts a finger over his lips and points at his omni. Kate quickly gets his point. Omnies record everything. No point in incriminating yourself any further. Just accidentally on purpose loose the incriminating evidence. "... dials, to set the coordinates for home, and when I pressed the home button we ended up in 1989. Which turned out to be Jeffrey's home, where his parents live."

"His parents? I thought your parents died in a car crash in 1982?"

"They did, they should have, but they didn't. There was a red light. I wanted to stay there."

"Of course. Why didn't you?" Bogg looks at the young man incredulously. Did he like being a Voyager so much, is his sense of responsibility that big, that he gave up spending time with his parents just because there was a red light?

"I accidentally triggered the omni," Kate says with embarrassment. "I didn't mean to."

"I'll take you back," Bogg says. He takes his omni from his belt. "When were you?"

"You can do that?" Jeffrey asks.

"Sure, this omni's time boundary is set for 2010."

"I mean with the red light, and Voyager Code."

"We're ignoring that. And we're not the only ones this week. If the powers that be had applied the Code properly, you would have been called to the Island as soon as we found out that you were gone. Kid, I've always hoped that one day I could give you back to your family and this is it. So, when were you?"

"Thanks, Bogg." Jeffrey smiles from ear to ear. "June 16, 1989." Bogg sets his omni. Kate and Jeffrey each grab hold of one of his arms.

----------

"New York, June 16, 1989." Bogg reads out the omni at arrival. "Red light. I never thought I'd be happy to say those words. Where do we go now?"

"I think we're already in the right place," Jeffrey replies.

"Look, there you go." Kate points across the street where they see Jeffrey running away.

"I guess this is good bye then. Kate." Jeffrey throws his arms around her. "I had fun voyaging with you. I'm sure you'll be a great teacher of Voyagers in a few years time."

"Thanks. I'll be able to concentrate on my class again now that I'm not helping Dad anymore trying to find you. But I don't think I'll become a Voyager."

"Too bad." Jeffrey turns his attention to her father. "Bogg."

"Kid." They give each other a hug.

"Thanks for everything, Bogg. I'll never forget you."

"Nor will I forget you." They break off their embrace.

"I think you should have this." Kate gives Jeffrey Bogg's old omni.

"I can keep it?"

"Whether you hold it in a cabinet, or Headquarters, doesn't really matter, I think," Bogg says.

"Thanks." Jeffrey gives them both one last hug and turns to cross the street.

"Er, kid. I think you'd better use the zebra crossing."

"Right, thanks." Jeffrey smiles sheepishly. He crosses the street at the zebra and walks into the building he ran out of a few moments, or days, depending on your time frame, earlier. Bogg puts his arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"We did the right thing, didn't we, dad?"

"Yes, we did, pigeon, we did." He tossles her hair.

"I never thought I would miss that nickname, but I did." She leans her head against his shoulder.

"Good to hear, pigeon."

At the door Jeffrey turns to take one last look at his friends. They wave at him, and then they're gone. He sighs and drops his head.

"Are you all right?" a woman just leaving the building asks.

"Yeah. I just thought I saw an old friend."


	12. Epilogue

"Jeff, Jeff, wake up."

Jeffrey moans slightly and opens his eyes. He's looking in the laughing face of Bogg.

"You look younger," the boy says as he stretches and moves up to a position leaning on his elbows.

"Thanks, I guess. Good news: green light. While you were sleeping I had a chat with ..."

"I'm voyaging again? I thought I quit."

"You quit? You should have told me so. I would have let you sleep and moved on on my own."

"Sleeping? Oh." Jeffrey moans again. A moan of disappointment this time. "I've dreamed it all."

"What did you dream?"

"I dreamed you were older, and you had a daughter. And I was older, and my folks were alive."

"Oh." Bogg looks at the omni in his hands. He opens it. "Look we have a green light."

"Yes, Bogg, it's pretty, but it's not going to make me feel better."

Bogg closes the omni and hangs it on his belt. They sit in silence for a moment. Each pondering their own thoughts.

"So, I had a daughter? Pretty girl?"

"She takes after her mother."

"And who would that be?"

"Olivia."

"Olivia Dunn? Yuck. I mean, yeah, our daughter would be pretty, but what made you think Olivia and I ..."

"I don't know. The way the two of you said good bye in Paris? It was a dream, Bogg, relax."

"I know, but Olivia ..." Bogg shivers. "A daughter would be nice, though, then I'd have one of each. I already have a son."

"You have a son? Where?" Jeffrey veers up.

"You. Well, I sometimes think of you as my son. Doesn't mean I want to take the place of your dad, even if I could."

"Thanks, Bogg." Jeffrey smiles at him. "You're a pretty good guy, to have as a second dad." He pads his friend's shoulder. "This was the best dream I've had about my folks in a while. Too bad this one wasn't true."

"Yeah. Is there somewhere you want to go? You choose." Bogg takes the omni.

"Just let the automatic takes us somewhere."

"Are you sure? You know you're gonna regret this."

"I'll never regret as long as I'm with you." Jeffrey grabs hold of Bogg's wrist tightly. Bogg triggers the omni.

THE END

------

_Disclaimer: The characters Phineas Bogg, Jeffrey Jones and Susan belong to Scholastic, etc. George Ferris and Christopher Columbus came from history. Kate Bogg sprang from my creative mind. Feel free to invite her on (one of) your adventures. Just let me know when she'll be home, so I can put the kettle on._

_A/N: Now that you have reached the end of my story, please let me know what you thought of it._


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